Keeping Busy
by SoraGirl
Summary: Four weeks alone can take a serious toll on two best friends and can sometimes lead to unexpected results. A serious of small events at 12 Grimmauld Place, leading up to one big kiss. RHr. Please R&R! :D COMPLETE!
1. Sweet Nothings

_"So what have you two been doing if you're not allowed in meetings?" he demanded. "You said you've been busy." _

_"We have," said Hermione quickly. "We've been decontaminating this house, it's been empty for ages and stuff's been breeding in here. We've managed to clean out the kitchen, most of the bedrooms, and I think we're doing the drawing room tomo-"_

_Pg 68, OotP, US version_

**Keeping Busy**

Disclaimer: Come on people. I don't own Harry Potter. --

**Author's Note: **_Woo! Okay, first off, I know the idea is a completely unoriginal one, but I love R/Hr and figured I'd give it a try myself. After all, we all know a little sumthin', sumthin' went on a __Grimmauld__ Place__ that they're not telling us about! ;) Anyway, the first two chapters are well…rather plotless…(a lot of cleaning! That's all Hermione gave to work with! -) but I wanted to set up a 'basic routine' I guess ;) If you're looking for the **real** story, it's in Chapter 3, which will be up soon. So, if you're not all too pleased with the first 2 chapters, please take a look at Chapter 3! Okay! Thanks for reading! :D_

**Sweet Nothings**

Hermione Granger finished off her letter with her usual flawless signature and a tiny, thoughtful sigh. As she sealed the letter tightly closed, she shook her head. "It just doesn't seem right."

Ronald Weasley, who had been doing his best to ignore her, knew that though she hadn't asked a question, she still expected a response. He looked up from his own piece of parchment. "_What_ doesn't seem right?" he asked obediently from where he was sprawled out on the bed.

"Keeping Harry in the dark like this," she frowned, running her hand nervously up and down the old desk she had been writing on.

Ron gave a large grumble and forced himself to sit up. "Hermione, it was Dumbledore's orders. He's just trying to do what's best for Harry. Besides, it's not like I enjoy writing these bloody 'secretive' letters either." He looked over his almost blank piece of parchment. The few words that were written were either meaningless, cryptic, or made no sense at all. He scoffed, balling up the would-be-letter and tossing it into the fire.

"I know we're doing the right thing," she said, trying to assure herself more then trying to assure him. "It just doesn't feel like it."

At this, Ron nodded in complete agreement. He sat for a second, wondering if he should pull out a piece a second piece of parchment and attempt another letter. He decided against it and instead, rose from the bed with new conviction. "Well, it's not like _we_ can do anything about it, so it's best not to worry. I reckon Dumbledore knows what he's doing."

Hermione smiled, feeling convinced. "You're right Ron."

"'Course I am," he grinned. "Anyway, might as well start working on cleaning the kitchen if we want real meals anytime soon."

Hermione agreed and the two made their slow trounce down the stairs to the kitchen of impending doom. Hermione had only seen the kitchen once since she had arrived at Grimmauld Place, and the experience had not been a pleasant one. But Mrs. Weasley had requested the group of kids begin a mission to scour the entire filthy house, and the kitchen seemed a good place to start.

"Ready?" Ron asked as he held his hand out to open the door. Hermione rolled her eyes. Ron took a deep breath and let the door swing open.

"…it-…i-…thi-…" Ron started, attempting to find accurate words as he gaped, wide eyed, at the horror before him.

"**_Bloody_**_ hell_," Hermione offered up, in barely a whisper.

Ron nodded, taking a large gulp, but never moving his eyes from the kitchen. "How are we suppose to clean this without magic?"

For once, Hermione didn't have an answer. She simply shook her head. "I have a feeling soap and water _aren't_ going to cut it."

Ron decided to shut the door.

"Good idea," Hermione sighed. "That was pretty bad."

"Pretty bad?" Ron snorted. "It smelled like something died in there. Several _large_ somethings."

"Well, we're going to have to clean it eventually, we can't just _leave _it like that," Hermione said, though she didn't especially want to enter the room EVER again. For some reason, it just seemed instinctive to disagree with what Ron.

"We really don't," Ron argued back.

"Come on Ron, we said we wanted to help the Order, this is the least we can do."

He paused for a second and thought this over. "Yeah," he sighed, "You're right." He hated that.

"Good," Hermione smiled, happy to have won as usual, "Then let's go get some cleaning supplies."

Four hours later, the two friends lay, almost completely passed out, on the floor of a sparkling kitchen.

"Finished," Ron exhaled, dropping the rag he had been using to clean up the last spot of dirt on the floor.

"We did it," Hermione laughed, elated. Ron idly wondered if that was a result of the cleaning fumes.

"Yeah," he agreed, looking at the spotless kitchen around him, "We make a pretty good team."

"Yeah," Hermione smiled, also enjoying the blissful feeling of looking over a job well done. "We do."

There was a slight silence and a blush washed over both of their flushed faces. It was only then that Ron realized how close they were laying. "Uh, yeah, well, we should probably tell my Mum then, she'll probably want to get straight to cooking." He said nervously, getting up and brushing off.

"Oh," Hermione said, now blushing redder then ever, "Yeah, of course."

As she moved to get up, Ron did something unexpected and held out to her, a bony white hand. Surprised though she was, she took it, still blushing, and mumbled a grateful, "Thanks."

-

Later that night, after the two had received bounds of praise from the Order and a delicious, home cooked dinner, they had settle down for a late night game of wizard chess. Ginny had long since gone to bed and the twins were off making mischief elsewhere (at least they assumed). The two sat on Ron's bed, chess board lying between them. Hermione let out a large yawn before sending her knight to take out one of Ron's pawns.

She grimaced, as her knight trampled down on the head of the pawn. "I really hate this game."

Ron gave a fake gasp, already knowing full well of his friend's opinion. "But Hermione, chess is logical, strategically game. It requires thought, patience, understanding! Besides, who ever heard of a book worm that hates chess?"

"It's not chess I hate," she informed him, watching distastefully as his castle plowed down her bishop. "It's _wizard's_ chess."__

"Oy, like Muggle chess is any better!" Ron snorted accusingly. "Dad says the pieces don't even _move_!"

"Precisely," said Hermione snootily. "So they don't knock each other senseless, either."

Ron grinned, "But Hermione, that's half the fun!"

Hermione sighed. "_Really_ Ron. I swear I'll get through to you one day."

Ron hid a smile. He certainly liked the idea of her trying. "So what shall we do tomorrow then? If wizard's chess is out?"

Hermione yawned again, reaching out to scratch Crookshanks behind the ear. "I'm sure there's plenty more for us to clean."

"Yeah," Ron agreed quietly and suddenly looked a great deal more somber. "I just wish there was more we could do- to help, I mean."

"There will be," Hermione assured him, her voice matching the soft cooing sound of Crookshanks' purr. "But for now, we do what we can."

Ron nodded. "Yeah," he said, but didn't seem convinced. Another short silence.

"Well," she said, stretching out her arms and hoping down from the bed. "I should get to sleep."

"Oh," Ron said, jumping up so suddenly he knocked over the chess board. He laughed nervously, blushing as he attempted to pile up the pieces. "Want me to walk you to your room, you know, it being this late and all."

Hermione smiled, picking up an unhappy Crookshanks. "Thanks Ron, but I think I can manage."

"Yeah," he blushed. "'Course. Just thought I'd offer. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Mmhm," Hermione said tiredly and exited the room.

Ron exhaled heavily and flopped onto his bed. _Smooth Ronald, you're a regular Casanova, _he thought bitterly. _Wait a second, Casanova?_ What exactly _had_ he intended to do anyway? _She's your best friend, you horrible git, _he bit, _it's not like **that**_. He shook his head. Something was definitely going on here…something with Hermione…and he wasn't all too sure he liked it.

-

"You're looking _particularly_ lovely today, Ms. Granger," Ron joked as he watched his heavily clothed friend entered the room.

"Shut up, Ron," Hermione snipped, not especially happy that she was wearing 6 layers of old, tattered cloths and had her bushy hair forced up into a rather dirty bandana. "I'll be the one laughing when the potion touches _your_ skin and _you_ break out in a hideous rash."

"Sure thing, 'Mione," he smiled "Let's get started then."

Each grabbing a handle, they dragged a large bucket of purple liquid over to a big wooden dresser. Hermione was first to dunk in a rag and start the furious scrub. Ron followed suit, sticking his gloved hands into the pot. He grimaced as the rubber from the gloves began to quietly sizzle. "What exactly does this stuff do?" he asked.

"Well, it's some sort of Disinfecting Potion. It gets rid of all sorts of magical creatures and magic remains," she watched as a single drop of potion bubbled up and consumed the dust bunny it had landed on. "I imagine it does quite well with germs, too."

"_And_ gives rashes?" Ron questioned, wondering just how strong his large yellow gloves were.

"Well, I'm not sure," Hermione admitted. "It either gives rashes or burns your skin off the bone." She pondered this for a second and then continued cleaning. Ron could only shake his head.

The two continued scrubbing into the cabinet was spotless. About half way through the day, Ginny arrived and though she had little to say, she offered a great deal of help. She pulled out just as they finished, claiming she had 'a letter to write' and giving a large wink to Hermione.

"Well," Ron said, looking once again at their finished work. "Let's report to Mum for our next 'important' mission."

They walked slowly to the door, less then eager for another maintenance job. They met Mrs. Weasley at the door.

"Hello you two!" Mrs. Weasley beamed. "I was just going to check how the room was coming along."

"All done," Ron told her proudly, opening the door.

Mrs. Weasley's jaw dropped as she looked into the room. "You did that all by yourselves?"

"We had a lot of help from Ginny," admitted Hermione. "But she had to write a letter."

"And the twins?"

"Fred and George?" Ron laughed. "No, haven't seen them sense you told us there was 'work to be done.'"

Mrs. Weasley took a second to take in all this information. "Well," she said, "You all did a great job. You and Hermione make an excellent pair." She grinned mischievously as the two exchanged blushing glances, just as she had intended.

"So, what's next? _Anything_ but the lavatory," Ron begged.

Mrs. Weasley pondered this for a moment, as Ron and Hermione stared hopefully. "I'll tell you what," she smiled, "I think you've both worked hard enough for one day. Why don't you go out for a while, get out of the house."

"_Really_?!" Ron exclaimed, ecstatic at the chance to do something besides clean.

"Yes, _really_," Mrs. Weasley grinned, "Just be careful and be back by dinner, alright?"

"Sure thing!" Ron said eagerly, grabbing Hermione's arm.

"Oh! Hermione, dear!" Mrs. Weasley called after them. "You'll probably want to change…"

------

Whee! Reviewers are showered with candy! :D


	2. Chess, Muggles, and a Weasley Jumper

**Keeping Busy**

Disclaimer: You know what…I still don't own it.

**Author's Notes: **_Here it is! Chapter 2! Better then Chapter 1 but not better then Chapter 3! ENJOY! :D_

**Chess, Muggles, and a Weasley Jumper**

"So, where are we headed?" Ron asked as the two happily stepped out of the doors of their temporary prison.

"Well, we don't have much time, only about two hours," Hermione said, looking down at her watch.

"Fancy a quick trip to Diagon Alley then?" Ron questioned. Though it was summer, the wind in London was still fairly brisk and Ron was instantly glad he had brought his sweater.

"It's quite far from here, isn't it?" Hermione pointed out. "Maybe we could just go for a walk? I can show you some of 'Muggle London' if you'd like."

"Yeah," the boy smiled. "That'd be nice."

So the two started on their way, walking nowhere in particular. There conversation was even more random then their walking pattern, ranging from favorite ice cream flavor to the meaning of life. Eventually, they reached a tiny park and Hermione became ecstatic.

"Come on Ron!" She said, grabbing his hand. "Look!" She stood him in front of a small table with a chair on either side, grinning widely.

She sat down in one of the two chairs and motioned for him to do the same. "What is it?" Ron asked, looking down at a familiar board.

"It's chess, Ron! Muggle's chess!"

He eyed her strangely. "Well, how do you play?"

"Just like you play wizards chess," Hermione explained. "Except the pieces don't fight each other."

Ron, wanting to know if this was true, called out, "Pawn to E3!" The piece remained still. "I _said_ pawn to E3!"

"No Ron," Hermione laughed. "_You _have to move the pieces."

She demonstrated by picking up her pawn and moving it two spaces forward. Ron stared in horror. "Oh come _on_ Ron, it's not _that_ hard."

Ron did eventually get a hang of it and ended up beating Hermione rather badly. "You were right Hermione, that wasn't hard at all," he commented smugly.

Hermione glared. "Yes, well, I've never claimed to be the greatest chess player in the world, have I?"

"I don't know what Dad finds so interesting about Muggle junk," Ron commented, picking a chess piece from the board and examining it closely. "Looks pretty boring to me."

"It's not boring!" Hermione argued. "Just because it doesn't have a bunch of fancy bells and whistles doesn't make it boring, you know!"

Ron gave a snort of disbelief, returning the chess piece to the board.

"Muggle things happen to be _very_ interesting," the girl insisted, picking up all the pieces that Ron had taken from her and setting them back up.

"Oh yeah?" Ron challenged. "Like what?"

Hermione opened her mouth once and closed it again, unable to come up with an example so quickly. "Muggle things…they're just…they're simpler. They're more _real_…you can touch them, taste them, feel them, _understand _them."

"You can do that with things in the wizarding world too," Ron said, imagining himself "touching, tasting, and feeling" a wizard's chess piece and realizing that would be quite dangerous.

"No you can't, Ron! Tell me, what makes those chocolate frogs hop?"

Ron thought about this. "A spell, I suppose."

"And what makes that spell work?"

"Well, magic, right?"

"And what makes magic work?"

"It..uh…" Ron thought about this as well, but couldn't find an answer.

"Exactly," Hermione sighed. "In the Muggle world, everything can be broken down, everything can be explained and understood. There are rules, laws that have to be followed. It makes things…_easier_."

"Do you miss it, then?" Ron asked, looking at what was around at the oblivious people around them, walking around with no idea of the kind of amazing world that existed right beneath their noses, and wondering how Hermione could find it in her to defend them. "Living in the Muggle world, I mean."

Hermione laughed slightly. "Of course not Ron, finding out I was a witch was the greatest thing that's ever happened me. You and Harry, well, you mean everything to me. To be honest…you're the first friends I've ever really had."

Ron was shocked by this admission. "Come on Hermione, you've got to have had _some_ friends in the Muggle world."

Hermione blushed, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Ron, I was a bushy haired, buckteethed, stuck up, know-it-all…I would have been lucky to find one person who didn't want to _kill_ me."

"I'm sure you weren't _that_ bad," Ron tried to console.

"_Ron_," Hermione said, giving him a look that demanded honesty.

"Well, alright, you might have been a _bit_ of a know-it-all…but none of the other stuff," Ron said, blushing slightly at what he felt was an understatement of how he felt about her.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Really? I seem to remember a certain redheaded first year saying something about my being 'a total nightmare!'"

The color drained from Ron's face. "I didn't know you even still remembered that. I'm _really_ sorry, 'Mione. That was before I knew you. Besides, I was just a stupid little first year back then, I didn't even-"

"It's _fine_ Ron," Hermione interjected with a smile. "I was a stupid little first year too."

Ron breathed a sigh of relief. "I guess we've come a long way sense then, ey?"

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. "But, we've still got a ways to go."

Ron smirked, knowing she was referring to the constant bickering the two still partook in. "But we'll make it there eventually. Want to head off? Dinner should be almost ready."

"Sure," Hermione said, dusting off the knee length skirt she was wearing. She shivered a little. "I could use the warmth."

Ron thought about this comment and realized it must be getting colder since the sun was starting to set, though he remained quite toasty in his authentic Weasley jumper. As they walked, he struggled to pull the itchy thing off. Hermione jumped back as the large maroon blob entered her view.

"Not the most fashionable thing, but it'll keep you warm," Ron said, blushing redder then the jumper in question.

Hermione blushed too, gave a sincere thanks, and slipped on the jumper. She inhaled deeply, taking in the warm, comforting scent of wood, cookies, peppermint, and home. It certainly _was_ Ron's sweater but as he watched from the corner of his eye, he decided that it looked much better on her. In fact, it seemed to fit her quite perfectly. The size was off, of course, and the sleeves were much too long, but that wasn't important. What_ was_ important was that it was his, and it just seemed right that she should be wearing it. He decided then that he would be quiet happy to see her wear it more often.

"Thank goodness!" Mrs. Weasley whaled as soon as they stepped in the door. "We were about to send the Order out to look for you! What on _earth_ took you so long?!"

She finally allowed herself the time to look over the pair. Ron, in a short sleeve shirt, arms red from the cold, and Hermione beside him, looking quite comfortable in a maroon jumper with a large "R" across the front. "_Oh_," Mrs. Weasley said with an apprehensive grin, "Well, I'm just glad you're home. Come on, have a seat, suppers nearly ready."

"Someone say supper?" A newly materialized George asked as Fred appeared beside him.

"Not in the house!" Mrs. Weasley insisted angrily.

"Yes Mum," they replied innocently (and very unconvincingly) as Mrs. Weasley returned to the kitchen. Only then did they turn to see Ron and Hermione.

"What do we have _here_?" George exclaimed gleefully, eyes lit up at the sight.

"Well I'll be, George," Fred smirked, eying the sweater Hermione wore. "Looks like we've got a new Weasley in the family!"

"What?" Hermione asked indignantly, but her question was answered by the twins amused stares. "Oh, _honestly_," Hermione scoffed loudly as she grasped implication, her face a bright pink. She struggled to pull off the sweater, further ruffling her previously ruffled hair, and shoved it embarrassedly into Ron's unready hands. Ron grasped his hands a little tighter into the wool as she stomped off. He frowned sadly, a pink blush rising on his ears, and laid the sweater down gently on a nearby chair.

Fred and George shared a knowing grin before heading for the kitchen.

---

Chapter 3 up by tomorrow, I promise! :D please review!


	3. Slipping and Then Getting Back Up

**Keeping Busy**

Disclaimer: Sadly, I still don't own Harry Potter :( Weep for me.

**Author's Notes: **_The long await chapter 3! I hope you enjoy! :D_

**Slipping and Then Getting Back Up**

"Another day, another hideously filthy room to clean," Ron sighed as the entered one of the many untidy rooms of Number 12, Grimmauld Place.

Hermione smiled lightly at her friend. "It's not so bad," she tried to comfort, "at least we got a bit of fun yesterday."

"No Hermione, it is _quite _bad," Ron said, observing the dust caked space, "Man, even _my_ room isn't _this_ dirty."

"I'm not sure Ron," Hermione admitted, "That could definitely be argued."

The redhead sent her a playful glare. "Alright, where should we start?"

"How about over there? Round that big clock looking thing?" Hermione suggested.

"Right-o," Ron yawned easily and grabbed up his trusty bucket of soapy water to get started.

It was sometime later when Hermione spoke up."It's really unfair that we can't do this with magic," she said unhappily. She went to wipe a bit of dirt from her forehead and grimaced when she ended up covering herself with lukewarm soapy water. "I could have the room cleaned in minutes."

"I'm sure you could," Ron agreed, laughing slightly.

"What?" Hermione questioned grumpily. "What's so funny?"

He looked her over, wilds strands of hair falling lose from her bun and framing her dirt smeared face, soapy hands placed her dusty jeans, and the same, irritated Hermione Granger glare that reminded him she was better then it all. "Once again, Ms. Granger, you are the _picture_ of fashion."

Hermione snorted huffily at her grinning friend. "And once again, _you_ don't have much room to talk, _Mr. Weasley_."  Kneeling on the floor with his bucket beside him, Ron was up to his elbows in soap with the rest of him covered in all sorts of dirt and grime.

"Oh yeah?" Ron tuffed.

"_Yeah_," Hermione retorted. "In fact, I think _you_ need this more then _I_ do." She threw her soap covered sponge, hitting him square in the face.

"HEY!" Ron yelled, picking up his own sponge and chucking it at her. Hermione squeaked, grabbing her bucket and the sponge that had been tossed at her, and ran off. Ron struggled to get up, slipping once on the soapy floor, and then tearing after her.

"No Ron, don't!" Hermione squealed as he corned her, bucket raised to one side. But it was too late, and she was soaked from head to toe in soapy water. "Ugh!" she screeched angrily, and tossed her water onto him.

The fight continued, both of them laughing madly the whole time. It wasn't long before they were both so soaked that no amount of water or soap could _possibly_ make them any wetter then they already were. Yet they still ran giggling from each other, slipping on the frictionless floor. "I have you now, Weasley!" Hermione proclaimed triumphantly, approaching Ron with both sopping sponges. Ron made a hard left, Hermione dashing after him, but the less then coordinated Weasley slipped backwards onto the ground, arms flailing around like some sort of cartoon character. Hermione gasped. With the slippery wood not allowing her to stop, she tumbled down on top of him.

"He-hey," Ron blushed breathlessly, his heart beating so hard he feared it might break though his chest. Hermione's damp hung around her shinning face, which he was centimeters away from.

"_Hey_," Hermione exhaled, able to examine every freckle on her friend's face. She had never noticed his eyes were so blue. She commanded her heart to stop acting so foolish, beating like it would explode. _It's just Ron_, she tried to remind herself, _it's just Ron_.

The awkwardness of the situation was undeniable, two soaked threw teenagers fallen on top of each other, faces inches apart, so close they could feel each other's racing hearts. "I should-" Hermione started, but neither moved.

Ron, previously lost in her deep brown eyes, noticed a small smudge of dirt that had somehow managed to survive their fight, on the side of her nose. "You…have something-" he struggled to say. He reached a trembling hand to the spot. She caught his hand gently in her own, but never brought her eyes off his. Slowly but surely, breathing as hard as if he had just finished 6 Quidditch matches, Ron lifted his head and touched his lips to hers.

The kiss didn't remain slow for long, in fact, it became surprisingly fast paced. The pair had suppressed their feelings for so long, they couldn't help kissing wildly. Ron struggled to sit up as the kissing continued. Hermione stayed seated on his lap, running her hands though his hair as he wrapped his arms around him. They kissed between rasping breaths, throwing caution to the wind, unable to stop.

They were stopped though, but only by the jolt of two pairs of feet hitting the floor.

"Well, well, what's going on here?" Fred smirked joyously. 

No two people had ever jumped apart faster.

"No-no-nothing," Ron fumbled, his face so red it was indistinguishable from his hair. "We, uh, we slipped."

"Slipped, ey?" George questioned, eyebrow raised. But despite how quickly they had jumped apart, it was blatantly obvious what was going on. The room was filthy with soap. They were both drenched and blushing wildly, shooting each other embarrassed stairs.

"Ye-yes," Hermione blushed, "We- we slipped. I've got to go…uh…do homework. Yes, homework…alright then." Still vibrant red, she rushed out of the room.

"RON AND HERMIONE! RON AND HERMIONE!" George and Fred started singing hysterically immediately, jumping around the room in triumph.

Of course, the floor was _still_ slippery, and Ron was only too glad when they both stumbled to the ground.

-

Ron didn't see Hermione again until supper. When she did finally appear in the kitchen, she did everything possible to avoid eye contact with Ron, taking a seat on the far, far end of the table and never glancing up from her meal. As if she had blushed so much it had become permanent, Hermione's cheeks remained a rosy pink throughout the meal. Of course, Fred and George did nothing to help the situation.

"Could you pass the bread please, Ron?"

"Oh, he better not George, after all, Ron has a problem with things '_slipping'_ around him."

"Oh yes, frequent 'slipper', our little Ronnie, isn't that right Hermione?" 

"You know, maybe Ron and Hermione should clean out that old sewing room tomorrow, seemed like they enjoyed themselves today."

"Think they might have enjoyed themselves a bit _too_ much."

Of course, for Fred and George it was all just good fun, but Hermione looked mortified by the end of the meal. She mumbled a quick thank you to Mrs. Weasley and bolted upstairs. Ron shot Fred and George a disgruntled look before heading to his room.

Ron spent much of the next two hours trying to figure out _exactly_ what happened in the last few days. As he rewound and fast forwarded through his memories, the news hit him like a brick. Somewhere along the line, unbeknownst to him, he had fallen in love with Hermione Granger.

What that meant to him, well, he wasn't exactly sure, and what it meant to their friendship, he was still trying to figure out. It seemed like he had spent his whole lifetime waiting for that kiss, building up what it would be like, storing anticipation, and for all his hopes and dreams and fantasies, he had _not _been disappointed. But that kiss was where much of the problem lied. Ron was still so lost, so dazed, by it, that he was otherwise incapable of thought.

A knock on his door brought him back to reality.

"Oy?" he said, not wanting to move from his sprawled out position on his bed.

"Ron?" came a tiny voice.

At this, Ron jumped up and threw open the door. "Hermione," he said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Ron, I wanted to talk to you about.." She was at a loss for words. It seemed to her that if she was to say the words 'the kiss' would be confirming it, making it real. "About…what happened today."

"Yeah," Ron said dreamily, staring once again into her oak brown eyes.

 She blushed, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her.

"It was…" she searched once again for the word. Ron waited anxiously, wondering if in all her brilliance and expansive vocabulary, Hermione could find a word to accurately describe something he had found so utterly indescribable.

Despite a protesting heart, Hermione's better logic and growing fear forced her to say something she wasn't sure she had wanted to. "…a mistake."

"A…_mistake_?" Ron's voice quivered. No, that wasn't the word he had been looking for.

Hermione only nodded.

And because a boy has to do what a boy has to do when he wants to stay friends with the girl he loves, Ron nodded as well. "Yeah," he whispered, "a mistake…"

"Yes," Hermione said, focusing on a crack in a distance wall. "We've just been cramped up to long, is all. We're both just a little emotional."

"Yeah," Ron blushed. "Did-Didn't mean a thing."

Hermione hid a pained expression. Though she had been implying that matter herself, hearing it from Ron was a whole different story.

"So…" Ron said.

"So…" echoed Hermione.

"What do we do now?" asked Ron.

"Well…I think it's best we just forget about it…" She ran her hand back nervously through her hair.

Another nod from the redhead.

"Alright," Hermione blushed. "I guess I should get going then…" She paused. Both of them silently begged for her to admit everything she had said before was a lie. Instead, she turned to the door.

"Ron?"

"Yeah?" Ron piped up, full of hope.

"It's probably best that we don't mention what happened to anyone…you know how they get…"

"Yeah…"

And with that, Hermione Granger closed the door.

Her mere presence being the strength that kept him standing, Ron thumped down on his bed, stunned, hurt, berated. His emotions flapped about his head like wild, frightened birds with him in the center all the while, grabbing desperately to catch them and pulling back only air. Try as he might, he couldn't snatch hold of one long enough to give it a decent amount of thought.

"Little late for female visitors, isn't it Ronnie?" Fred grinned as the twins entered the room.

"Hermione stop by for a little more 'slipping'?" George asked mischievously.

Ron looked up at his brothers with a face full of disgust and desolation. He was silent as tiny fragments gathered inside him to form the right word. "No."

"No?" George repeated, disappointed that his brother hadn't so much as blushed. "Well, no worries then, I'm sure you'll do plenty of 'slipping' tomorrow."

"No," Ron replied stoically. "We won't. In fact, they'll be no more 'slipping' at all."

"What?" Fred and George asked in unison, anxious to see what was spoiling their fun.

"You heard me," Ron growled, anger slowly building up. "No more slipping. No more kissing. No more anything. It was a mistake."

"You two didn't _look_ too mistaken when you were snogging like _mad_ for a good 10 minutes," Fred interjected slyly, getting a large guffaw from George.

"Yeah, well, it _was _a mistake, alright!?" Ron snapped. The twins took a step back.

Ron lowered his voice a level. "Hermione…she said she'd just been cooped in too long, that it didn't mean anything." He glared at a piece of furniture, tears threatening to pour over.

Fred and George eyes opened wide, suddenly feeling _very_ guilty. "Look mate, we're sorry. If we-"

"I don't want to talk about it," he snarled, eyes not mobbing from the dresser. "You've both done _more_ than enough, _thanks_." His voice was riddled with anger.

The twins hung their heads, but did not move.

"_Go_," Ron commanded coldly. And for one of the first times in their short lives, they listened.

Eventually, things got back to normal, as they often did. Ron finally gave a short apology to the twins and even managed to stop blushing around Hermione. He had done just what she said, and forgot about it. The news that Harry would be coming was more then welcomed, as time alone was still hard. Hermione had been quick to remind Ron that Harry had been through a lot, and didn't need to hear about what insignificant things they had been doing over the summer. Ron had mindlessly agreed.

And Harry _had_ asked. He _had_ demanded to know what had the two had been doing to keep so busy. And Hermione had anxiously shot off some lies to cover it all up, just like was expected. And of course, Ron kept his promise too, standing all the while, and never giving word to his most favorite mistake.

Fin.

That's all! Hope you liked it or didn't hate it beyond all reasonable belief. I needed _something_ as I _anxiously _wait for HBP! :D SOO EXCITED! All reviews are VERY much appreciated.


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